Label Review. 

Previously unreleased concert recorded at Palo Alto High School on 27 October 1968. Impulse! Also available on Vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

‘Palo Alto’ is a new musical archeological find from the revered American pianist and composer Thelonious Monk. Previously unreleased, it is a recording of a live concert from 27th October 1968 brought about by 16 year old school boy Danny Scher in 1968. Danny had a goal and aspired to invite Thelonious Monk and his quartet to play a benefit concert at his high school in Palo Alto, California, in order to raise funds for his school and to help bring about racial unity in his community.

The 47-minute album features Monk’s regular touring band of tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse, bassist Larry Gales and drummer Ben Riley. It also highlights his touring repertoire, which constituted his finest compositions. Their set included Monk’s lyrical love song ‘Ruby, My Dear,’ on which Rouse took the melodic lead on tenor sax before Monk’s dazzling solo). ‘Well, You Needn’t was given a 13-minute workout with solos by the whole band. Also included was Monk’s captivating solo reading of Jimmy McHugh’s “Don’t Blame Me”; the signature “Blue Monk” and a playful run through of “Epistrophy”. Then came a truncated encore of Monk’s slow stride through Rudy Vallee’s 1925 Tin Pan Alley hit “I Love You Sweetheart of All My Dreams”.

The concert was recorded by the school’s janitor, an audio engineer hobbyist which Danny kept. This treasure has resided in Danny’s attic until he got in touch with Thelonious’ son who tends to his father’s legacy with a view to releasing the recording. ‘Palo Alto’ is the first in a planned series of Thelonious Monk titles to come out on the legendary jazz label Impulse! Records over the new few years.

Tracklisting: Ruby, My Dear / Well, You Needn’t / Don’t Blame Me / Blue Monk / Epistrophy / I Love You Sweetheart of All My Dreams

Label Review. 

2020 album. Shoegaze/psychedelia. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

Winter is talented Brazilian Samira Winter and ‘Endless Space (Between You & I)’ is her debut album. The power of a Winter song is hard to describe, like how the delicate world building of a good book can be more compelling than real life. There’s a make-believe, fairy tale surrealism that sets Winter’s blend of shoegaze and psychedelia apart while existing in the same universe as the ethereal dream pop of Cocteau Twins and Melody’s Echo Chamber.

Samira Winter grew up in Curitiba, Brazil, where her Brazilian mother filled their home with the gentle melodies of MPB (música popular brasileira), and her father introduced her to the distorted sounds of American punk. At 18, she moved to Boston where she first released music as Winter, eventually moving to LA’s Echo Park. Winter has built a cult following with a stream of bilingual releases and national tours supporting Boogarins, Broncho and Cherry Glazerr, not to mention dates in Mexico, South America and Europe.

“Winter’s breathy voice is pretty magical.” say Brooklyn Vegan. Meanwhile “Winter makes cosmic dream-pop fit for stargazing. The languid motion of their soaring tunes are filtered through fuzzy sounds of slowly writhing guitar work.” suggests AudioTree.

Tracklisting: Between You & I / Endless Space (Between You & I) / Here I Am Existing / Healing / In the Z Plan / Say / Bem No Fundo (feat. Dinho Almeida) / Constellation / Memoria Colorida / Wherever You Are / Pure Magician

Label Review. 

1981 album. Synth pop. Also available on Vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

The early 80s were prolific for Electronic music pioneer Hideki Matsutake. As the go-to keyboard programmer for the tokyo music scene, he worked with Akiko Yano, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mkwaju Ensemble’s “Mkwaju” and found time to record two albums under the Logic System name in 1981. While the first album, ‘Logic’ had a harder techno feel, the second one ‘Venus’ was different affair.

Recorded in Los Angeles at the new state of the art Yamaha Studio, it was loosely themed on the Greek goddess Venus and had a funkier more organic sound. For the album Matsutake had asked a handful of American musicians to provide songs he would then add his synth magic touch to. Michael Boddicker, Don Grusin, Nathan East and Roger Powell duly complied and also played on the album. The updated sound was achieved by switching from the Moog III to the E-mu modular System (which Matsutake brought over to LA) and other synths like the Prophet 5, the Roland MC-8 and TR 808 and the Yamaha GS-1, a forerunner of the DX7. The result is an amazing futuristic mix of electronic music and early 80s funk, announcing many genres to come, from techno and house to French electro and Vaporwave.

From the breezy ambient synth of “I Love You” to the city pop edge of “Be Yourself” (originally written by Nathan East for Debra Laws) and the vocoder-led Daft Punk-ish “Take A Chance”, ‘Venus’ is a fascinating album that both pushes the boundaries of electronic music and is yet strangely accessible and beautiful.

Tracklisting: Venus / Morpheus / I Love You / Plan / Take A Chance / Automatic Collect Automatic Correct / Be Yourself / Prophet / Metamorphism / Equivalent

Label Review. 

2020 album. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

American alt-rock band PVRIS release their third studio album ‘Use Me’, and on the new record, frontwoman, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer Lynn Gunn steps into a new chapter, as she owns her role as PVRIS’ leader and sole architect. The result is 11 pop conjurations of glitchy beat-craft, airy guitars, and spell-binding vocals.

A newfound sense of freedom lies at the core of ‘Use Me’. For years, Lynn remained in the background too shy to take all of the credit for the vision of PVRIS and her role in the songwriting, presentation, much of the production, merch, and visual video concepts. At last, she is ready to shine a light on who she is and what she does. “I allowed myself to support a narrative I thought I had to support of PVRIS being a band,” says Lynn. “I didn’t really have a role model for this. Coming from a ‘band culture,’ it’s about how the group is always greater than the sum of its parts, and you’re not supposed to take credit, even if you do everything. There’s no template or role model for really owning it as a woman. I wanted to make everyone else happy and uphold an image I thought we had to.”

“Growing up, I learned I don’t have to do that anymore. I’m finally allowing myself to take credit. I’ve got the full support and encouragement of my bandmates. PVRIS is a unit and very much a team, but the heart and soul of the vision and music always has sourced from me. I’m just saying it now. I fulfilled my own vision of what a role model should be.”

Tracklisting: Gimme A Minute / Dead Weight / Stay Gold / Good To Be Alive / Death of Me / Hallucinations / Old Wounds / Loveless / January Rain / Use Me / Wish You Well

Label Review. 

2020 album. Brazilian guitarist. Also available on Vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

‘Prelúdio’ is the third album Now-Again Records will issue from the thrilling, young Brazilian guitarist Fabiano do Nascimento. Produced by Mario Caldato, Jr. and Luther Russell and engineered and mixed by Caldato and Jason Hiller, this album features do Nascimento’s longtime drummer Ricardo “Tiki” Pasillas.

It is the first album of solely do Nascimento’s own compositions and, like his previous albums ‘Dança dos Tempos’ and ‘Tempo dos Mestres’, follows folkloric Brazilian music, Brazilian jazz, bossa-nova and samba as experienced through the mind and able fingers of an expansive musician, combing the heady ‘60s and ‘70s experimentalism of Hermeto Pascoal and Baden Powell with the childlike elegance of music played and passed down by native Brasilians for generations.

He was born in Rio de Janeiro and grew up there and in Sao Paulo, where he found inspiration in his uncle, the late Lúcio Nascimento, bassist and composer in Leny Andrade’s band Bom de Três. While he came from a musical pedigree, he’s largely self-taught, largely in the service of an overarching mission to showcase the folkloric music of his home country as he continues to develop possibilities for language of the guitar itself.

His collaborators now include Madlib, multi-instrumentalist Sam Gandel, Innovative Leisure chanteuse Claude Fontaine and legendary Brazilian percussionist, bandleader, songwriter and catalyst Airto Moreira. Moreiera states that Nascimento is “Brazilian but (his mind is) from a place in Brazil that is not common. Fortunately, we still have some musicians who like to play music and who like to touch the instrument and who like that energy! You see, because that’s the most important thing in music. The energy. That’s why I love to play live. And that’s why I’m playing with Fabiano.”

Tracklisting: De Rio a Tapajós / Partiu / Mente Azul / Rainha / Tributo / Malandro / Amanhecer / Ilhas / Prelúdio Amazônico / Trem-bala

Label Review. 

2020 album. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

English psych pop band Glass Animals release their third studio album ‘Dreamland’. At the heart of ‘Dreamland’ lies the quietly enigmatic Dave Bayley, the bands’ frontman and producer extraordinaire who’s work extends far beyond that of Glass Animals, with credits including Joey Bada$$, Flume, Wale, Khalid and most recently Denzel Curry on the late 2019 single “Tokyo Drifting”.

For Bayley, ‘Dreamland’ is a nostalgic memoir of his life so far, covering expansive and difficult ground and holding nothing back. It’s packed full of personal experiences, none more emotional than when the bands drummer Joe Seaward was involved in a monstrous bike accident in July 2018 which threatened his life, and that of Glass Animals altogether. In truth, now is the perfect time for such a poetic dive into the self: ‘Dreamland’ arrives in the midst of a global pandemic and it’s a time for reflection on life itself; for looking back on memories of the past, taking stock of where we are and what we have, and cherishing our loved ones.

‘Dreamland’ finds Bayley slipping into his own crevices, blending past and present reflections in a seemingly stream-of-conscious overhaul of the self: “The idea for this album came at a time of confusion and uncertainty,” Bayley explains. “My best friend was in the hospital. I didn’t know if he’d make it. The future was damn scary and completely unknown.”.

Bayley explains that ‘Dreamland’ “goes through many of the most confusing moments in my life. It’s about growing up, from my first memories as a little kid to now. Quite often those moments are funny, sometimes awkward, sometimes heart-breaking, sometimes it’s about love or hate or sexuality. It’s about realising it’s ok to not have answers and it’s ok to not know how you feel about things and that it’s ok to be and look vulnerable. In fact, all of that is quite exciting. So often life asks us for binary yes or no answers. It asks us to conform and to fit in. But the world is so much more interesting and colourful than that… it’s a much more fluid and uncertain place.”

Tracklisting: Dreamland / Tangerine / / ((home movie: 1994)) / Hot Sugar / ((home movie: BTX)) / Space Ghost Coast to Coast / Tokyo Drifting / Melon and the Coconut / Your Love (Déjà vu) / Waterfalls Coming Out Your Mouth / It’s All So Incredibly Loud / ((home movie: rockets)) / Domestic Bliss / Heat Waves / ((home movie: shoes on)) / Helium

Label Review. 

2020 album. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

Highly influential post punk stars, The Psychedelic Furs release their new album, their first in nearly 30 years, ‘Made Of Rain,’. From its exhilarating opening bars, ‘Made Of Rain’ - sounds like The Psychedelic Furs and them alone. Their peerless permutations of art, aggression and ambience drive the dynamics, and it’s always been this originality which has set them apart, a cut above. If first single “Don’t Believe” is at all representative of ‘Made of Rain’, expect a slightly more bitter Psychedelic Furs than you might be used to. Or perhaps they always have had that bite, and it’s just taking firmer hold with this tight, modern production. Classic sax notes follow the guitar’s breathing melody, trudging with lowered shoulder against the psychedelic swirl of the track. It all bursts free on the hook, as lead vocalist Richard Butler and a chorus of voices call out, “I don’t believe/ I don’t believe you/ Don’t believe me.”

Led by vocal and lyrical genius Richard Butler with his brother Tim on bass, The Psychedelic Furs released seven critically acclaimed studio albums - ‘The Psychedelic Furs” (1980), ‘Talk Talk Talk’ (1981), ‘Forever Now’ (1982), ‘Mirror Moves’ (1984), ‘Midnight To Midnight’ (1987), ‘Book Of Days’ (1989) and ‘World Outside’ (1991). They released many classic singles throughout the ’80’s and into the 90’s, including: “Sister Europe”, “Love My Way”, “The Ghost In You”, “Pretty In Pink”, “Heaven”, “Heartbreak Beat”, “All That Money Wants” and “Until She Comes”. They went on hiatus in 1992 although since 2000 they have frequently got back together to tour but there hasn’t been a new album until now.

The last few years has seen the band’s legend growing, highlighted by the fact they have scored over 150 million streams of their songs worldwide. Their influence since arriving on the post-punk scorched-earth landscape four decades ago has reverberated and resonated from everyone from The Killers to REM to Foo Fighters to Bob Dylan has sung their praises. “I’m aware of the fact that people cite us an influence”, says Richard, “though I don’t often recognise it in their music. It’s gratifying of course, as it is that there’s still an interested and enthusiastic audience for us. That’s an honour.”

Many moons after “Pretty In Pink” (sort of) inspired that John Hughes movie, “Love My Way” has featured in Oscar-winning film ‘Call Me By Your Name’ and “The Ghost In You” in sci-fi smash ‘Stranger Things’ showing that The Psychedelic Furs are sounding stronger than ever. As anyone who’s seen the band lately knows, Butler remains one of the most watchable frontmen in the game.

Tracklisting: The Boy That Invented Rock & Roll / Don’t Believe / You’ll Be Mine / Wrong Train / This’ll Never Be Like Love / Ash Wednesday / Come All Ye Faithful / No-One / Tiny Hands / Hide The Medicine / Turn Your Back on Me / Stars

Label Review. 

2020 album. Also available on Vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

‘Hate For Sale’, produced by the revered Stephen Street (The Smiths, Blur), is the 11th studio album by The Pretenders. The record features 10 new songs written collaboratively by Chrissie Hynde and the electrifyingly dynamic guitarist James Walbourne, in what is the first Hynde/Walbourne song writing collaboration to date. Speaking about writing with James for the first time, Chrissie said: “I wanted to write with him since day one. James is especially sought after and has recorded with Jerry Lee Lewis, Dave Gahan, and The Rails, to name but a few. We always planned on writing while on the road, but as anyone in a band will tell you, being on tour is a procrastinator’s dream come true”.

The Pretenders and Chrissie Hynde have been part of the rock firmament for over 40 years. After a great start scoring a UK No.1 with “Brass In Pocket” they had to overcome the early tragedy of losing two members to drug overdoses in the early 1980s. Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers (who is still in the band today) continued with new members and more hits such as “Don’t Get Me Wrong”, “Hymn To Her” and “I’ll Stand By You”. The current line-up of Hynde, Chambers, Walbourne, Nick Wilkinson (bass) and Eric Heywood (guitar, vocals) have been steady for over 10 years and have now added Carwyn Ellis (keyboards) to further expand their sound.

Tracklisting: Hate For Sale / The Buzz / Lightning Man / Turf Accountant Daddy / You Can’t Hurt a Fool / I Didn’t Know When To Stop / Maybe Love Is In NYC / Junkie Walk / Didn’t Want To Be This Lonely / Crying in Public

Label Review. 

2020 album. Also available on Vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

“Everybody wants to know / how I feel and what I think,” Margo Price sings in her emotive, bittersweet twang, halfway through her third full-length record. On ‘That’s How Rumors Get Started’, Margo has committed her genre-bending rock-and-roll show to record for the first time, stretching out into sky-high soft-rock, burning psychedelic rock ballads, stomping road songs, and sprinkles of pop. “Twinkle Twinkle” is an anti-nostalgia anthem of sorts, about the polarization of becoming a more well-known artist, and the wild ride that was Margo Price’s last few years. It traces her trajectory: she gets by, gets high, racks up debt, can’t pay the rent, plays dives to stay alive. “If it don’t break you, it might just make you rich,” she sings, with heroic sass.

The song was inspired by a back-stage encounter with Marty Stuart and the Superlatives at a music festival that was otherwise pretty bleak. (Price has played with Superlatives guitarist Kenny Vaughan over the years.) After the show, in Stuart’s trailer, while he tuned his guitars, he said to Price, “So, you and the band have been on the road a lot lately, do you all hate each other yet?” As Price recalls it: “I said, ‘No, well, I mean, our marriages are falling apart and our health’s deteriorating. But other than that, we’re great.’ And he looks at me, and he gets this gleam in his eye, and he says, ‘You wanted to be a star.. Twinkle twinkle.’”

Tracklisting: That’s How Rumors Get Started / Letting Me Down (featuring Sturgill Simpson) / Twinkle Twinkle / Stone Me / Hey Child / Heartless Mind / What Happened To Our Love / Gone To Stay / Prisoner Of The Highway / I’d Die For You

Label Review. 

2020 album. Indie folk pop. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

After the celestial adventures of Lancaster polymath Ben Hall, AKA Mr Ben & the Bens’ previous issue, band-leader Ben Hall finds all the magic he needs on earth with his new album, ‘Life Drawing’, released via Bella Union.

On 2019’s Who Knows Jenny Jones?, Hall plotted the story of a young, shy Pitsmoor woman who returned from an alien encounter newly armed with serious disco-dancingknow-how. ‘Life Drawing’, meanwhile, looks closer to home for its inspiration – Sheffield and thereabouts – for twelve brightly plaintive, character-driven vignettes, set to warm, acoustic, indie-folk-pop backdrops after its predecessor’s close encounters of the synth-driven kind.

A “cloudy thread of narrative” is present, Hall explains, but this time it’s left open for listeners to map routes through it. “The idea with the title is that the songs are character sketches, and their stories coalesce in a place that has a bit of all the towns in the North of England I’ve lived in. Bits of myself in the stories came out unintentionally, so I’d like it if the listener could find those semi-truths from the songs and place them into their own experiences.”

Since their 2017 emergence, Mr Ben and the Bens’ supporters have included Clash and Marc Riley; in addition, they’ve provided touring support to – among others – British Sea Power.

Stretching back to his recording origins in a Lancashire barn circa 2012, Hall’s own musical history ranges from lofi acoustic folk to the skewed electronic experiments of Jenny Jones, with influences including Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, English folk music and Belle and Sebastian. “I like how their approach was actually punk but with an emotional sensibility,” says Hall of the latter. “That totally resonates with what I’m trying to do.”

Tracklisting: On the Beach / How do you Do? / Danny / Faithful Hound / Astral Plane / Minor Keys / Beast in the House / Walking to an Open Sky / The Wind on Spittlehill / Irish Rain / Closing Time / Watering Can

Label Review.

2020 album. Indie.

Our Overview.

‘Clouded’ is the solo debut album for Les Nuby. Beginning as the drummer in the 90s Birmingham, Alabama indie-rock power house, Verbena, Les Nuby began a steady musical exploration that’s still going. He’s a one-time touring member for Scottish legends Idlewild, touring guitarist with Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), guitar slinger for Vulture Whale, and current guitarist/vocalist for Holiday Gunfire. It’s a hefty musical resume before the production credits even begin.

In his Birmingham studio, Ol’ Elegante, Nuby has been the production captain for several notable releases in the past few years for artists such as Will Stewart, Sarah Lee Langford, The Dirty Clergy, and Witch’s Wall, to name a few. He’s pretty much been there and done it all in the past couple of decades as player and producer. The only item missing from the list was a solo album. Until now.

Naturally, given his musical pedigree, Nuby had to do it all himself on his premiere offering, and produced, engineered, and played all the instruments on ‘Clouded’, and the ten track album blends Southern sensibilities with a shoe-gaze sound, while at the same time, giving it a Brit-rock vibe. Whatever the genre, whatever the sound, Nuby’s track record goes way before him, so you know you’re going to love it before you even press play.

Nuby’s solo debut ‘Clouded’ injects a southern sensibility into his unique and ultracapable take on brit/shoe-gaze rock that produces ten melody laden, thoughtfully arranged and undeniably powerful songs. Nuby produced, engineered and played all the instruments on ‘Clouded’, a reminiscent snapshot of when music had the ability to make you drive faster and cry harder. It may have taken him awhile to get around to making an album all for himself. But, anyone who knows the man or is familiar with his past work isn’t going to be surprised that ‘Clouded’ has clearly been worth the wait.

Tracklisting: Never Falling Away / Fighting Sleep / Know What She Said / Now It’s On / Come To Us / Hey Ivey / Standing Still / OK Let’s Try / Say Love / The Shadowlands

Label Review. 

2020 album. Also available on CD. 

Our Overview. 

‘Unfollow The Rules’ is Rufus Wainwright’s tenth album and sees him at the peak of his powers, entering artistic maturity with passion, honesty and a new-found fearlessness, while remaining as mischievous as ever. Recorded in the same legendary Los Angeles studios as his landmark debut, his new record is both a bookend to Act 1 of an extraordinary career and a distillation of 21 years of experience at pop’s most flamboyant coal face. Inspired by middle age, married life, fatherhood, friends, loss, London and Laurel Canyon, ‘Unfollow The Rules’ captures Rufus at a crossroads. Ready to tackle new challenges, yet compelled to confront his past, he’s taking stock of two decades of running riot with rules, making sense of how he has matured as a musician and celebrating the contended family man he has become.

Speaking about ‘Unfollow The Rules’, Rufus said that he would like the album “to symbolise a coming together of all the aspects of my life which have made me a seasoned artist. My aim is to emulate the greats of yore whose second acts produced their finest work – Leonard Cohen when he made ‘The Future’, when Sinatra became Sinatra in his 40s, when Paul Simon put out ‘Graceland’, pop music isn’t always about your waistline. Many songwriters improve with age. I’m flying the flag for staying alive!”

First single “Damsel In Distress” is an homage to Joni Mitchell in some ways, particularly the structure” Wainwright explained. “My husband and I now live in Laurel Canyon. I wasn’t that familiar with Joni’s music but Jörn became obsessed and took me on a journey into her music. We ended up hanging out with her and I get now why she’s one of the greats. So it’s part Laurel Canyon, part a song about a personal relationship that I’m trying to come to terms with, but mostly my Mitchell virginity being broken.”

Tracklisting: Trouble In Paradise / Damsel In Distress / Unfollow The Rules / You Ain’t Big / Romantical Man / Peaceful Afternoon / Only The People That Love / This Ones For The Ladies (THAT LUNGE!) / My Little You / Early Morning Madness / Hatred / Alone Time

Label Review. 

2020 album. Electronic. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

American composer, vocalist and producer Julianna Barwick is an artist who crafts ethereal, sometimes wordless soundscapes, built around multiple loops and layers of her angelic voice. And her new album ‘Healing Is A Miracle’ marks another distinctive meditation on sound, reverb and the voice and also marks a debut album for Ninja Tune.

Built out from the same instinctive approach as those which preceded it, she also draws on the input of three talented collaborators: Jónsi (Sigur Rós), Nosaj Thing and Mary Lattimore, who gently nudge her out at the edges of her organically-evolved sound.

‘Healing Is A Miracle’, a press release explains sees Barwick drawing on "improvisation and a close affinity to a couple of trusted items of gear," while also taking in the input of three collaborators with whom she has built up close musical friendships over the years.

The album was recorded in the wake of Barwick's relocation from New York to Los Angeles and came about last spring when she sat down with her vocal looping set-up and began sketching out ideas for new solo material. It had been so long since I had done that," she says, "making something for myself, just for the love of it… it was emotional, because I was recording music that was just from the heart, that wasn't for an 'assignment' or project."

Barwick’s impressive live shows have gained incredible praise over the years on both sides of the pond, from the likes of The Guardian, The New York Times, NPR, Vice and more. She has further supported and performed with artists such as Bon Iver, Grouper, The War On Drugs, Sigur Ros, Sharon Van Etten, Flying Lotus, Angel Olsen, Mas Ysa, Nat Baldwin and more.

"Gorgeous & immersive on first listen & never loses its sparkle. She has tapped a vein of expression that is rich & powerful & affecting" - Pitchfork

"Her ethereal multi-tracked harmonies have the devotional quality of gospel choirs, and the oddball allure of Björk or Yoko Ono." - The New York Times

Julianna has toured the world and played on festival stages across the globe including Pitchfork Music Festival, Down The Rabbit Hole, Adult Swim, Way Out Festival, Moogfest, Le Guess Who?, End Of The Road, Green Man Festival, Sugar Mountain and more.

Tracklisting: Inspirit / Oh, Memory ft. Mary / Lattimore / Healing Is A Miracle / In Light ft. Jónsi / Safe / Flowers / Wishing Well / Nod ft. Nosaj Thing

Label Review.

1955 & 1956 albums.

Our Overview.

‘Count Basie Swings, Joe Williams Sings’ (Clef MG C-678) was the first album featuring Joe Williams (1918-1999) as the vocalist of the Count Basie orchestra. 2 LPs on 1 CD - 6-Panel Digipak Collectors Limited Edition - Includes Inside Booklet With Updated Liner Notes.

American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer Count Basie and American jazz singer Joe Williams’ first real encounter would take place in 1954, and from that year until 1961, Williams remained the singer for the band, rising to national prominence with Basie. “Every Day I Have the Blues”, taped in 1955, was one of his many hit sides (it was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame for recordings of particular historical or qualitative importance in 1992).

The complete Basie/Williams LP The Greatest!! Count Basie Plays, Joe Williams Sings Standards (Verve MG V-2016), as well as the only existing alternate take from that album and two further rare collaborations between pianist and singer have been added as a bonus.

Joe Williams, vocals on all tracks Count Basie & His Orchestra Wendell Culley, Reunald Jones, Thad Jones, Joe Newman (tp), Henry Coker, Bill Hughes, Benny Powell (tb), Marshall Royal (as, cl), Bill Graham (as), Frank Wess (ts, fl), Frank Foster (ts), Charlie Fowlkes (bar), Count Basie (p), Freddie Green (g), Eddie Jones (b), Sonny Payne (d). Arrangements by Frank Foster & Ernie Wilkins. Fine Studios, New York, May 17 & July 26, 1955.

*BONUS ALBUM (10-22): The Greatest!! Count Basie Plays, Joe Williams Sings Standards: Same personnel as above. Arrangements by Buddy Bregman. Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, April 28 & May 1, 1956.

**BONUS TRACKS (23-24): Same personnel as above. Universal Recordings Group, Chicago, January 23, 1956. Originally issued on the Verve 7” single MGV-2004. INCLUDES All original sessions produced by Norman Granz.

Tracklisting: Every Day (I Have The Blues) / The Comeback / Alright, Okay, You Win / In The Evening (When The Sun Comes Down) / Roll’em Pete / Teach Me Tonight / My Baby Upsets Me / Please Send Me Someone To Love / Ev’ry Day (I Fall In Love) / Thou Swell* / There Will Never Be Another You* / Our Love Is Here To Stay* / ‘S Wonderful* / My Baby Just Cares For Me* / Nevertheless* / Singin’ In The Rain* / I’m Beginning To See The Light* / A Fine Romance* / Come Rain Or Come Shine* / I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me / This Can’t Be Love* / I’m Beginning To See The Light [alt Tk]* / Stop! Don’t! ** / As I Love You**

Label Review. 

2020 album. Singer songwriter. Also available on CD.

Our Overview. 

British folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling’s exquisite seventh album 'Song For Our Daughter' arrives almost without preamble or warning in the midst of uncharted global chaos, and yet instantly and tenderly offers a sense of purpose, clarity and calm.

Three years ago, Laura Marling's sixth album, ‘Semper Femina’, ended with the sound of her putting down her guitar and walking out of the studio and into a garden. Then a door closed and the listener was left alone, in silence. It was a cryptic reference, the singer explained, to Henrik Ibsen's play ‘A Doll's House’, in which with a woman walks out on her husband and children in an effort to discover herself.

As a balm for the soul, this full-blooded new collection could be posited as Laura’s richest to date, but in truth it’s another incredibly fine record by a British artist who rarely strays from delivering incredibly fine records.

On her Grammy-nominated 2017 album ‘Semper Femina’, Marling used Classical-era imagery to add mythos to women-focused stories, but Song for Our Daughter, her seventh album, is guided by its own kind of far-reaching lore. Marling does away with her previous record’s occasional blues-rock grit and peels her sound back to its gleaming bones: pristine acoustic guitar, textural hums, a metronome click. She doesn’t need much else to frame her quartz pendant of a voice, which can reach Alpine altitudes as well recall a troubadour singing through chewing tobacco. Marling has described ‘Song for Our Daughter’ as a rumination on modern femininity, and her tendency to leave lyrical narratives open and unfinished adds an evocative elasticity to her new music. You may find yourself wanting to fill in the spaces as if playing a particularly soul-searching kind of Mad Libs.

Taking much of the production reins herself, alongside long-time collaborators Ethan Johns and Dom Monks, Laura has layered up lush string arrangements and a broad sense of scale to these songs without losing any of the intimacy or reverence we’ve come to anticipate and almost take for granted from her throughout the past decade.

Tracklisting; Alexandra / Held Down / Strange Girl / Only The Strong / Blow By Blow / Song For Our Daughter / Fortune / The End Of The Affair / Hope We Meet Again / For You

Label Review. 

2020 album. Original songs. Sunshine pop. Also available on Vinyl. 

Our Overview. 

‘Explorers Club’ is the eponymously titled fourth album by the Nashville-based Sunshine Pop band and there is a companion album of covers too called ‘To Sing And Be Born Again’. This twelve-song-set is the band’s boldest work to date, breaking sonic barriers while maintaining lush melodies and artistic influences. Key tracks include: “Ruby,” “Look To The Horizon,” “One Drop Of Rain,” “Somewhere Else”.

The Explorers Club is the brainchild of Jason Brewer, who founded the band in his native Charleston, SC before relocating to Nashville. With several songs featured on such shows as ‘The O.C.’ and ‘How I Met Your Mother’ and with three albums already under their belts – ‘Freedom Wind’ (2008), ‘Grand Hotel’ (2012) and 2016’s ‘Together’ – 2020’s twin releases are Brewer’s most ambitious undertaking to date.

The self-titled album of originals is an artistic triumph that includes standout tracks “Love So Fine,” the Phil Spector-inspired “Look To the Horizon” and “Dawn” – The Explorers Club’s first exploration into bossa nova. “I had a solid lineup of musicians working with me on the previous albums and I catered to their tastes, but this time around I made the record that I wanted to make,” Jason proclaims.

Musically adjacent to successful pop artists from the 1960s, 70s like The Beach Boys, Turtles, Association, Grass Roots. Brainchild of Charleston, SC native Jason Brewer, the only constant “member” of The Explorers Club over the band’s lifespan. Brewer re-unites with ‘Freedom Wind’ and ‘Grand Hotel’ producer, Matt Goldman (Copeland, Underoath, Smalltown Poets, etc). New contributors to this incarnation of The Explorers Club include Shane Tutmarc (Dolour, Sean Nelson) and Austin, TX based songwriter, Will Courtney. Consequence of Sound suggested that Explorers Club’s “vocal harmonies are to swoon for,” adding, “Old-school Americana drips off every warm keyboard hit, horn embellishment and lyric about gosh-darn romances from simpler times.”

Tracklisting: Ruby / One Drop Of Rain / Love So Fine / Mystery / Don’t Cry / It’s Me / Dawn / Dream World / Say You Will / Somewhere Else / Dreamin’ / Look To The Horizon